by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, europe
Here’s a look at the life of Theresa May, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Birth date: October 1, 1956
Birth place: Eastbourne, England
Birth name: Theresa Mary Brasier
Father: Hubert Brasier, Anglican vicar
Mother: Zaidee (Barnes) Brasier
Marriage: Philip May (1980-present)
Education: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, Geography, 1974-1977
Religion: Anglican
Has Type 1 diabetes.
Was the first female chairman of the Conservative Party.
Was introduced to her husband in 1976 at an Oxford Conservative Association dance by Benazir Bhutto, who later became the prime minister of Pakistan.
Lost both of her parents in her 20s.
Co-founded Women2Win, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of conservative women in Parliament.
Is the second female prime minister of Great Britain. Margaret Thatcher was the first. She served from 1979 to 1990.
1977 – Takes a job with the Bank of England.
1985 – Begins working for the Association for Payment Clearing Services as an adviser on international affairs.
1986-1994 – Councillor in the London borough of Merton.
May 1997 – Elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Maidenhead.
1999-2001 – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment.
2001-2002 – Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
2004-2005 – Shadow Secretary of State for the Family.
May 2010-July 2016 – Home Secretary.
2012 – Introduces the controversial Data Communications Bill, which would require UK internet service providers and communications companies to collect more data about users’ online activities. Opponents call it the “Snoopers’ Charter.”
July 11, 2016 – Is named leader of the Conservative Party.
July 13, 2016 – Replaces David Cameron as British prime minister when he resigns after the UK votes to leave the European Union.
July 20-21, 2016 – Takes her first international trip as Britain’s prime minister, to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and to Paris, to meet with French President Francois Hollande.
January 26-27, 2017 – During a visit to the United States, May becomes the first serving foreign leader from outside the US to speak at the annual congressional Republican retreat and the first foreign leader to meet with US President Donald Trump since his inauguration.
April 18, 2017 – Calls for an early general election to take place.
May 22, 2017 – Following the Manchester explosion, May announces that election campaigning will be suspended until further notice.
June 8, 2017 – In a competitive general election, May’s Conservative Party loses its majority in the UK parliament, coming up eight seats short. The Labour Party, led by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, picks up 32 seats for a total of 262 seats.
June 9, 2017 – May visits Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, an early step in the process of forming a new coalition government. May’s proposed new government will be a partnership between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. The next day, two of May’s top advisers resign, even as May herself rebuffs calls to step down.
September 22, 2017 – During a speech in Florence, Italy, May proposes a “strictly time-limited” transition period to ease Britain’s 2019 withdrawal from the European Union.
December 6, 2017 – Prosecutors describe a plot to assassinate May involving an explosive device at the gates of Downing Street that would give the attacker access to No. 10, May’s residence as Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman appears in court on charges of terrorism offenses in the alleged plot.
April 17, 2018 – May apologizes for her government’s treatment of some Caribbean immigrants to the UK and insists they were still welcome in the country. The apology comes amid widespread condemnation of the government’s treatment of the so-called Windrush generation, the first large group of Caribbean migrants to arrive in the UK after World War II.
July 6, 2018 – At the end of a cabinet meeting on Brexit, May announces a proposal that aims to preserve free trade with the European Union. In return for free access to its biggest export market, the UK would commit to following EU rules and regulations on goods and accept a limited role for its highest court. Two cabinet members – Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – resign days later in protest to the plan.
July 17, 2018 – May survives a crucial vote in parliament when MPs vote 307 to 301 against a proposal by Remain-supporting members of her Conservative party that would have significantly undermined her Brexit strategy.
September 21, 2018 – After an EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, at which her Brexit plan was largely rejected, May called for the EU to “respect” the British position and the Brexit vote. Negotiations, she said, are “at an impasse.”
December 12, 2018 – Survives a vote of no-confidence among Tory members of parliament, garnering 200 of the 317 possible votes. The vote was called after May postponed a parliamentary decision on a Brexit deal amid signs it would not be approved.
January 15, 2019 – May’s Brexit deal is defeated 432 votes to 202, the greatest margin of defeat since 1924. Corbyn calls for a vote of no-confidence after May’s defeat saying it will allow the House of Commons to “give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government.”
January 16, 2019 – May survives a vote of no-confidence in the House of Commons. Lawmakers voted 325 to 306 in favor of the government remaining in power. Following the vote, May calls on Britain’s political parties to “put self-interest aside” and word together on a compromise Brexit deal.
March 27, 2019 – Lawmakers in the House of Commons seize control of the parliamentary timetable from May in order to vote on alternatives to her Brexit plan. After hours debating, MPs in the House of Commons fail to back any of the propositions. At 5 p.m. local time, May regains the initiative and offers to resign if MPs back her withdrawal agreement.
May 24, 2019 – May announces that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7th. She will stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen.
July 24, 2019 – Tenders her official resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Johnson becomes the new prime minister.
December 12, 2019 – Wins reelection as the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.
March 8, 2024 – Announces that she will step down as an MP at the next general election, ending 27 years in parliament.
by tyler | Mar 18, 2024 | CNN, europe
Here’s a look at the life of Theresa May, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Birth date: October 1, 1956
Birth place: Eastbourne, England
Birth name: Theresa Mary Brasier
Father: Hubert Brasier, Anglican vicar
Mother: Zaidee (Barnes) Brasier
Marriage: Philip May (1980-present)
Education: St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, Geography, 1974-1977
Religion: Anglican
Has Type 1 diabetes.
Was the first female chairman of the Conservative Party.
Was introduced to her husband in 1976 at an Oxford Conservative Association dance by Benazir Bhutto, who later became the prime minister of Pakistan.
Lost both of her parents in her 20s.
Co-founded Women2Win, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of conservative women in Parliament.
Is the second female prime minister of Great Britain. Margaret Thatcher was the first. She served from 1979 to 1990.
1977 – Takes a job with the Bank of England.
1985 – Begins working for the Association for Payment Clearing Services as an adviser on international affairs.
1986-1994 – Councillor in the London borough of Merton.
May 1997 – Elected Conservative Member of Parliament for Maidenhead.
1999-2001 – Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Employment.
2001-2002 – Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
2004-2005 – Shadow Secretary of State for the Family.
May 2010-July 2016 – Home Secretary.
2012 – Introduces the controversial Data Communications Bill, which would require UK internet service providers and communications companies to collect more data about users’ online activities. Opponents call it the “Snoopers’ Charter.”
July 11, 2016 – Is named leader of the Conservative Party.
July 13, 2016 – Replaces David Cameron as British prime minister when he resigns after the UK votes to leave the European Union.
July 20-21, 2016 – Takes her first international trip as Britain’s prime minister, to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and to Paris, to meet with French President Francois Hollande.
January 26-27, 2017 – During a visit to the United States, May becomes the first serving foreign leader from outside the US to speak at the annual congressional Republican retreat and the first foreign leader to meet with US President Donald Trump since his inauguration.
April 18, 2017 – Calls for an early general election to take place.
May 22, 2017 – Following the Manchester explosion, May announces that election campaigning will be suspended until further notice.
June 8, 2017 – In a competitive general election, May’s Conservative Party loses its majority in the UK parliament, coming up eight seats short. The Labour Party, led by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, picks up 32 seats for a total of 262 seats.
June 9, 2017 – May visits Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, an early step in the process of forming a new coalition government. May’s proposed new government will be a partnership between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. The next day, two of May’s top advisers resign, even as May herself rebuffs calls to step down.
September 22, 2017 – During a speech in Florence, Italy, May proposes a “strictly time-limited” transition period to ease Britain’s 2019 withdrawal from the European Union.
December 6, 2017 – Prosecutors describe a plot to assassinate May involving an explosive device at the gates of Downing Street that would give the attacker access to No. 10, May’s residence as Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman appears in court on charges of terrorism offenses in the alleged plot.
April 17, 2018 – May apologizes for her government’s treatment of some Caribbean immigrants to the UK and insists they were still welcome in the country. The apology comes amid widespread condemnation of the government’s treatment of the so-called Windrush generation, the first large group of Caribbean migrants to arrive in the UK after World War II.
July 6, 2018 – At the end of a cabinet meeting on Brexit, May announces a proposal that aims to preserve free trade with the European Union. In return for free access to its biggest export market, the UK would commit to following EU rules and regulations on goods and accept a limited role for its highest court. Two cabinet members – Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – resign days later in protest to the plan.
July 17, 2018 – May survives a crucial vote in parliament when MPs vote 307 to 301 against a proposal by Remain-supporting members of her Conservative party that would have significantly undermined her Brexit strategy.
September 21, 2018 – After an EU summit in Salzburg, Austria, at which her Brexit plan was largely rejected, May called for the EU to “respect” the British position and the Brexit vote. Negotiations, she said, are “at an impasse.”
December 12, 2018 – Survives a vote of no-confidence among Tory members of parliament, garnering 200 of the 317 possible votes. The vote was called after May postponed a parliamentary decision on a Brexit deal amid signs it would not be approved.
January 15, 2019 – May’s Brexit deal is defeated 432 votes to 202, the greatest margin of defeat since 1924. Corbyn calls for a vote of no-confidence after May’s defeat saying it will allow the House of Commons to “give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government.”
January 16, 2019 – May survives a vote of no-confidence in the House of Commons. Lawmakers voted 325 to 306 in favor of the government remaining in power. Following the vote, May calls on Britain’s political parties to “put self-interest aside” and word together on a compromise Brexit deal.
March 27, 2019 – Lawmakers in the House of Commons seize control of the parliamentary timetable from May in order to vote on alternatives to her Brexit plan. After hours debating, MPs in the House of Commons fail to back any of the propositions. At 5 p.m. local time, May regains the initiative and offers to resign if MPs back her withdrawal agreement.
May 24, 2019 – May announces that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7th. She will stay on as prime minister until a successor is chosen.
July 24, 2019 – Tenders her official resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Johnson becomes the new prime minister.
December 12, 2019 – Wins reelection as the Conservative MP for Maidenhead.
March 8, 2024 – Announces that she will step down as an MP at the next general election, ending 27 years in parliament.
by tyler | Dec 28, 2023 | CNN, europe
Here is a look at the January 2015 terror attacks in Paris. From January 7 to January 9, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, a kosher grocery store and the Paris suburb of Montrouge. Three suspects in the attacks were killed by police in separate standoffs. On December 16, 2020, a French court found guilty 14 accomplices of the French Islamist militants behind the attacks.
The Charlie Hebdo magazine began publishing in 1970 with the goal of satirizing religion, politics, and other topics. Most employees came from the publication Hara-Kiri, which was banned after it mocked the death of former President Charles de Gaulle.
The Charlie in the title references Charlie Brown from the Peanuts cartoon. Hebdo is short for hebdomadaire, meaning weekly, in French.
The magazine ceased publication in the 1980s due to lack of funds. It resumed publishing in 1992.
In 2006, Charlie Hebdo reprinted controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that originally appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. French President Jacques Chirac criticized the decision and called it “overt provocation.”
In 2011, the magazine’s offices were destroyed by a gasoline bomb after it published a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed.
Cherif Kouachi:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– During his standoff with police, Cherif Kouachi told CNN affiliate BFMTV that he’d trained in Yemen with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
– He also told BFMTV that during that time he met with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Muslim who was the face of AQAP until he was killed in 2011 in a US drone strike.
Said Kouachi:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– Starting in 2009, Kouachi traveled to Yemen frequently, spending months at a time there.
– US officials said that in 2011 Kouachi received weapons training and worked with AQAP.
Amedy Coulibaly:
– Born in France, of Senegalese descent.
– Arrested in 2010 for attempting to free an Algerian serving time for a 1995 subway bombing and spent some time in prison. Cherif Kouachi was under investigation for the same plot, but there was not enough evidence to indict him.
– Before he was killed by police, Coulibaly purportedly told CNN affiliate BFMTV by phone that he belonged to ISIS.
Hayat Boumeddiene:
– Born in France, of Algerian descent.
– Girlfriend of Coulibaly.
– Initially it was believed she took part in the shooting of a police woman in Montrouge and the subsequent kosher grocery store attack.
– However, a Turkish Prime Ministry source has told CNN that Boumeddiene entered Turkey on January 2, arriving at the Istanbul airport on a flight from Madrid with a man. She had a return ticket to Madrid for January 9, but she failed to take her return flight from Istanbul that day.
– Also, a French source close to the nation’s security services said it’s believed that Boumeddiene is no longer in France and she is thought to have left for Turkey, “of course to reach Syria.”
– Paris prosecutor Francois Molins has indicated Boumedienne and Cherif Kouachi’s wife also were well acquainted, saying they exchanged 500 phone calls in 2014.
– In 2020, Boumeddiene is tried in absentia and found guilty of financing terrorism and belonging to a criminal terrorist network.
January 7, 2015 –
– At approximately 11:30 a.m., gunmen force their way into the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris. The attackers allegedly say they are avenging the Prophet Mohammed and shout “Allahu akbar,” which translates to “God is great,” according to Molins.
– Twelve people are killed: Eight employees, a guest at the magazine, a maintenance worker and a police officer are killed.
– After fleeing the building, the gunmen encounter another police officer on the street and shoot him at point-blank range.
– Later in the day, the phrase “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”), begins trending on social media. Thousands of Parisians take to the streets to hold a vigil for the victims.
January 8, 2015 –
– Police name the prime suspects, brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi. Police search for them in an area northeast of Paris, near Villers-Cotterêts.
– One killed: A gunman dressed similarly to those in the Charlie Hebdo attack, all in black and wearing a bulletproof vest, shoots and kills a female police officer in the Paris suburb of Montrouge.
– The Kouachi brothers steal food and gas from a gas station near Villers-Cotterets, according to a gas station attendant.
– A US law enforcement official tells CNN both Kouachi brothers were in a US database of known or suspected international terrorists known as TIDE and also were on the no-fly list and had been for years.
– In the evening, the Eiffel Tower briefly goes dark in remembrance of the victims.
January 9, 2015 –
– Four people are killed: In the morning, police and French special forces troops surround a building in Dammartin-en-Goele, northeast of Paris, where the Kouachi brothers are hiding inside with one hostage.
– In the afternoon, a gunman enters a kosher grocery store in the Paris suburb of Porte de Vincennes, taking people hostage. The gunman is identified as Coulibaly. Police also link him to the attack in Montrouge. Also identified is his suspected accomplice, Boumeddiene. Officials say Coulibaly killed four hostages in the grocery store.
– At approximately 5 p.m., police launch an assault on the building in Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Kouachi brothers are hiding. The brothers are killed.
– Shortly afterward, police launch an operation against Coulibaly at the kosher grocery store. Four hostages are killed, and fifteen are rescued. Coulibaly is also killed.
January 11, 2015 –
– Across France, approximately 3.7 million people march in anti-terrorism rallies. In Paris, 40 world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and British Prime Minister David Cameron march with a crowd of 1.5 million people.
January 13, 2015 –
– Funeral services are held in Israel for the four hostages killed in the kosher market. Netanyahu attends.
– Hollande awards The Order of Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest honor, posthumously to the three slain police officers in the attacks, during a memorial ceremony at the Prefecture de Police in Paris.
– Bulgaria arrests Frenchman Fritz-Joly Joachin on a European arrest warrant, citing alleged ties to terrorists and a possible connection to the Kouachi brothers.
January 14, 2015 –
– Charlie Hebdo releases a new edition of its magazine, featuring a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Mohammed on the cover, holding a sign that says “Je suis Charlie.”
– AQAP claims responsibility for the operation carried out on Charlie Hebdo.
by tyler | Dec 18, 2023 | CNN, europe
Here is a look at Russian opposition leader, Kremlin critic and activist Alexey Navalny.
Birth date: June 4, 1976
Birth place: Butyn, Soviet Union
Birth name: Alexey Anatolyevich Navalny (sometimes spelled Alexei, Aleksei)
Father: Anatoly Navalny, former military officer and basket-weaving factory owner
Mother: Lyudmila Navalnaya, basket-weaving factory owner
Marriage: Yulia (Abrosimova) Navalnaya (2000-present)
Children: Daria and Zakhar
Education: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, commercial law, 1998; attended State Finance Academy, 1999-2001
Has been a prominent organizer of street protests and has exposed corruption in Russian government and business via social media, including his LiveJournal blog and RosPil website.
Says that he stands by previous anti-immigration comments considered xenophobic, including deporting Georgians from Russia. Has apologized for the use of derogatory terms.
Is barred from running for political office because of a 2013 conviction. Russian law forbids convicted criminals running for political office.
2000 – Joins Yabloko, the Russian United Democratic Party.
2006 – Participates in the Russian March, a nationalist event.
2007 – Is expelled from Yabloko because of his nationalistic leanings.
2007 – Launches the National Russian Liberation Movement, (known as NAROD, the Russian word for “people”).
2009 – Policy adviser to the governor of the Kirov region.
November 2010 – Blows the whistle on a $4 billion embezzlement scheme at the state-run oil pipeline operator, Transneft, by posting leaked documents on his blog.
December 2010 – Kirov-area open an investigation against him involving a state-owned lumber deal when he was an adviser to the governor.
December 5, 2011 – Takes part in protests following Vladimir Putin’s December 4 election win. Is arrested but is released after 15 days.
2011 – Founds the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). The organization investigates corruption in the Russian government and posts supporting documentation.
December 24, 2011 – Speaks before tens of thousands of pro-reform demonstrators prior to the March 2012 presidential election.
March 6, 2012 – Is arrested along with other protesters after Putin wins a third term as president on March 4, with just under 65% of the vote. Critics question the results amid complaints of voter fraud.
March 20, 2013 – Is indicted, along with entrepreneur Petr Ofitserov, for misappropriating $500,000 in a state-owned lumber deal when he was an adviser to the Kirov region’s governor.
July 18, 2013 – A court in the city of Kirov finds Navalny and Ofitserov guilty of embezzlement. They are sentenced to five and four years in prison respectively. Detained overnight, they are released July 19 pending an appeal. The verdict is followed by public protests.
2013 – Runs unsuccessfully for mayor of Moscow. Comes in second with 27% of the vote.
October 16, 2013 – The five-year prison sentence received July 2013 is reduced to a suspended sentence on appeal.
October 2013 – In a statement from the Russian federal Investigative Committee, Navalny and his brother Oleg Navalny are accused of defrauding the French cosmetics company Yves Rocher’s Russian subsidiary.
February 28, 2014-January 2015 – Under house arrest.
December 30, 2014 – Is found guilty of fraud in the November 2013 case. Receives a suspended sentence of three and a half years. His brother receives a sentence of three and a half years in prison.
February 23, 2016 – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules that Navalny and Ofitserov were deprived of the right to a fair trial in their 2013 conviction. They are awarded 8,000 Euros for damages, plus additional awards for costs and expenses.
April 27, 2017 – Navalny is splashed in the face with an antiseptic green dye. The attack causes vision damage in one eye.
January 22, 2018 – A Moscow court orders the closure of FBK, which funds Navalny’s activities.
July 29, 2019 – Suffers an “acute allergic reaction” while serving a 30-day sentence in police custody. His July 24 arrest follows a call for demonstrations after the disqualification of opposition candidates for Russian municipal elections. Doctors do not find any signs of poisoning after doing an analysis, Russian News Agency TASS reports.
Poisoning and time in Germany
August 20, 2020 – Feels sick during a return flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of TomskIn and falls into a coma from suspected poisoning, according to spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh. “We assume that Alexey was poisoned with something mixed into [his] tea,” Yarmysh tweets. German NGO The Cinema for Peace Foundation says it is sending a medical plane to Russia in an attempt to evacuate him.
August 21, 2020 – Russian doctors give Navalny’s team permission to move him. He is scheduled for a medical evacuation to travel to a German clinic, according to spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.
August 22, 2020 – Arrives at the Charité Hospital in Berlin in Germany where an “extensive medical diagnosis” is made.
September 2, 2020 – In a statement, the German government reports that Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group. Novichok was used in a March 2018 attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, in the English cathedral city of Salisbury.
September 7, 2020 – According to a statement released by Charité Hospital, Navalny is out of a medically induced coma.
September 23, 2020 – Is discharged from the hospital, according to a statement released by the Charité Hospital.
December 14, 2020 – Reporting from CNN and investigative group Bellingcat reveals that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) formed an elite team specializing in nerve agents and trailed Navalny for years. Phone and travel records suggest the unit followed Navalny to at least 17 cities since 2017.
December 17, 2020 – At his annual press conference, Putin claims that if Russian special services had wanted to kill Navalny, “they would’ve probably finished it…but in this case, his wife asked me, and I immediately gave the order to let him out of the country to be treated in Germany… This is a trick to attack the leaders [in Russia].” The CNN-Bellingcat investigation is a form of “information warfare” facilitated by foreign special services, he says.
December 21, 2020 – CNN reports that Konstantin Kudryavtsev, an agent who belonged to an elite toxins team in Russia’s FSB, revealed during a debriefing details about how Navalny was poisoned, but didn’t realize he was speaking to Navalny himself.
December 28, 2020 – The Russia Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) accuses Navalny of violating the terms of his probation by failing to show up for scheduled inspections while in Germany and requests that a court replace his suspended sentence with an actual prison term.
December 29, 2020 – Russia’s main investigative body launches a criminal case against Navalny on charges of fraud related to his alleged mishandling of $5 million in donations to FBK and other organizations.
Return to Russia and trial
January 2021 – Russian prison authorities officially request to replace Navalny’s 2014 suspended sentence with a real jail term. The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service says that by staying in Germany, Navalny is violating the terms of his suspended sentence in the so-called Yves Rocher case, which Navalny believes is politically motivated.
January 13, 2021 – Announces on social media that he will return to Russia from Germany on January 17.
January 17, 2021 – Navalny is detained moments after arriving in Moscow following months of treatment in Germany after being poisoned in August 2020. The next day, he is ordered to remain in custody for 30 days during a surprise hearing.
February 2, 2021 – A Moscow court sentences Navalny to prison for more than two and a half years for violating probation terms from 2014 while he was in Germany. The sentence takes into account the 11 months Navalny spent under house arrest. His lawyer says he will appeal the verdict. The sentence prompts protests across the country.
February 20, 2021 – Navalny’s appeal is partially rejected. The judge shortens his sentence by a month and a half, noting the time he spent under house arrest, from December 2014 to February 2015. In a separate hearing at Babushkinsky District Court, he is convicted of defaming World War II veteran Ignat Artemenko, 94, in social media comments made June 2020. Navalny criticized a video broadcast by state TV channel RT, in which prominent figures expressed support for controversial changes to the Russian constitution. The penalty for defamation, a fine, was changed to include potential jail time in December 2020.
February 24, 2021 – According to Reuters, Navalny is stripped of his “prisoner of conscience” status by Amnesty International. The decision was made due to numerous complaints about Navalny’s past xenophobic comments received by the organization.
March 3, 2021 – Navalny’s lawyer Vadim Kobzev tells CNN that Navalny is being held in detention center-3 in Kolchugino in the Vladimir region east of Moscow. Navalny will be held temporarily before being moved to a penal colony.
March 31, 2021 – Navalny, who is imprisoned in penal colony No. 2 in Pokrov, says he is going on a hunger strike to protest against prison officials’ refusal to grant him access to proper medical care.
April 23, 2021 – Navalny announces that he is ending his hunger strike after receiving medical attention.
April 26, 2021 – Moscow’s chief prosecutor freezes Navalny’s political movement by suspending activities at his offices across the country.
April 29, 2021 – Navalny’s network of regional offices for his political movement will be “officially disbanded,” chief of staff Leonid Volkov announces. Volkov says the regional offices will “continue to work as independent social and political movements, but we will not finance them anymore, we will not set tasks for them, but we know that they by themselves will do a great job.”
October 20, 2021 – Navalny is awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
March 22, 2022 – Navalny is sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security jail, according to Tass, after being convicted on fraud charges by the Lefortovo court in Moscow over allegations that he stole from his Anti-Corruption Foundation.
June 14, 2022 – Navalny is relocated to a maximum-security prison in Melekhovo in the Vladimir Region, according to Russia’s state media outlet TASS citing Sergey Yazhan, chairman of the regional public oversight commission.
April 26, 2023 – In comments posted on Twitter, Navalny says he has been accused of committing “terrorist attacks” and the new case will be heard by a military court.
August 4, 2023 – Is sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, Russian media report. Navalny is already serving sentences totaling 11-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility on fraud and other charges that he says were trumped up.
December 11, 2023 – Lawyers for Navalny say they have lost contact with the jailed Russian opposition leader and his whereabouts are unknown.
by tyler | Oct 25, 2023 | CNN, europe
For any fans of Jurassic Park, now could be the chance to tread the same path as the prehistoric giants before us, after a set of well-preserved dinosaur footprints were unearthed on a beach off the south coast of England.
Engineers from the government’s Environment Agency were investigating how to reinforce sea defenses along the Yaverland seafront on the Isle of Wight, when they uncovered the fossils, according to a press release Monday.
“Dinosaurs existing right where our team is working brings old and new together – the modern challenges of combatting climate change with a period of time we can only imagine,” the agency’s regional flood and coastal-risk manager Nick Gray, said.
“We’ve all read the stories and seen the films, but this gives us just a hint of what life was like,” he added in the statement.
Experts believe the 125 million-year-old prints could be from a mantellisaurus, seven meters long and three-toed, which distinguishes them from other dinosaurs. Mantellisaurus were herbivorous and lived during the early Cretaceous period, which ended 66 million years ago.
The Environment Agency said the fossils were excavated in a vacation destination beside a beachside café, a car park and a bus stop. But while tourists have unknowingly been walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs, this type of discovery does not come as a surprise to experts.
Martin Munt, curator of the local Dinosaur Isle Museum, called the Isle of Wight the “richest dinosaur location in Europe.”
In the press release, Munt said 35 different dinosaur types have been found on the island, and that while they can’t be certain of the dinosaur species that made the prints, it is most “likely a mantellisaurus was here, not just in other parts of the south coast,” where they were assumed to be more common.
Displayed in London’s Natural History Museum is a mantellisaurus skeleton that was discovered on the Isle of Wight in 1917. It is one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons in the UK, according to the Environment Agency.
by tyler | Oct 25, 2023 | CNN, europe
Thousands of women across Iceland – including the prime minister – went on strike Tuesday as part of a campaign pushing for greater gender equality in the country.
It marked the seventh time that women in Iceland have gone on strike in the name of gender equality, campaign organizers said on their official website. The first strike took place on October 24, 1975.
The strike, known as the “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic, was organized to raise awareness about the “systemic” wage discrimination and gender-based violence faced by women in Iceland, according to organizers.
Some schools and libraries in the Scandinavian country did not open their doors on Tuesday, according to Icelandic public service broadcaster RÚV. Only one bank branch opened on the entire island, RÚV reported, warning readers that its own coverage had been reduced due to its female journalists participating in the strike. Medical clinics in the capital area were only treating emergencies during the strike, due to end at midnight local time (8 p.m. ET), according to RÚV.
In the capital of Reykjavík, a crowd of thousands of women gathered on Tuesday afternoon on Arnarhóll, a hill next to the city center, according to RÚV.
One of the strike’s most high profile participants was the country’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who “did not attend to her official duties” on Tuesday, a spokesperson from her office told CNN.
Jakobsdóttir postponed a cabinet meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday, the spokesperson said, reiterating that she wanted to show her solidarity with Icelandic women.
Female employees who make up two thirds of staff in the Icelandic prime minister’s office all participated in the strike and did not come into work on Tuesday, the spokesperson added.
During an interview with the public service broadcaster’s radio station on Tuesday, Jakobsdóttir stressed that the fight for gender equality is going too slowly. “Looking at the whole world, it could take 300 years to achieve gender equality,” she said.
“As you know, we have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023. We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle,” Jakobsdóttir also told news site Iceland Monitor in an interview on Friday.
The strike was acknowledged by government departments on Tuesday, and was backed by the country’s largest federation of public workers unions, the Federation of the Public Workers Union in Iceland (BSRB), the Icelandic Nurses’ Association and the Icelandic Association of Women’s Associations, among others.
“Women in Iceland are striking today, for the 7th time since the famous #womensdayoff in 1975,” Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, accompanied by a black and white photo of a huge crowd. “Their activism for equality has changed Icelandic society for the better and continues to do so today.”
Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet Tuesday: “Today we repeat the event of the first full day women’s strike since 1975, marking the day when 90% of Icelandic women took the day off from both work and domestic duties, leading to pivotal change including the world’s first female elected president of a country.”
For 14 years in a row, Iceland has been ranked the best nation for gender equality by the World Economic Forum (WEP), which said the country has closed 91.2% of the gender gap.
Strike organizers wanted to draw particular attention to the plight of immigrant women whose “invaluable” contribution to Icelandic society they say is “rarely acknowledged or reflected in the wages they receive.”
Jakobsdóttir’s government has previously committed to eradicating the gender pay gap by 2022.
